Senator Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX) has already stated that amendments to defund Planned Parenthood could be attached to a continuing resolution that keeps the federal government running, but Senator Ted Cruz and other congressional Republicans are now explicitly calling for a government shutdown if they don't have their way.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said Republicans “should do everything they can” to eliminate federal money for Planned Parenthood — “even if it means a government shutdown fight this fall,” Politico reports.
In addition, 18 House Republicans told leadership that they “cannot and will not support any funding resolution … that contains any funding for Planned Parenthood.”
There was a time not too long ago -- an innocent time -- when we believed John Boehner's coveted appropriations process and the GOP's adherence to Paul Ryan's budget blueprint was the greatest risk to government operation, but that was before they launched a concerted effort to smear Planned Parenthood in the same vein as ACORN.
I feel the need to pour one out for congressional Republican leadership because it's quite clear they knew about the fraudulent Planned Parenthood videos at least a month before they were released publicly. They know the videos do not reveal anything illegal or unethical, but they were complicit in keeping the videos secret as part of a coordinated campaign to attack Planned Parenthood. They are partially responsible for creating a monster they may not be able to control.
The last time Ted Cruz called for shutdown, we had a shutdown.